Ronata finally woke up after what he felt like an instant, but in actuality, he had lost consciousness for nearly three weeks.
When he woke up, Whitey and its mate were already gone.
That's left him feeling a little lonely. If he could, he at least wants to see their little bunnies before they leave.
'Well, maybe it's natural, I guess? After all, Whitey was wounded that much after that, so it must've thought that this place was not safe for its mate and its children to live and decided to leave.'
Ronata internally sighed.
He then looked at himself, only to realize that his water had now completely returned to its pure state again. There aren't any red spots or corpses anymore inside him. Everything had been dissolved by him.
'Hm? But why do I feel like I have more Mana now?'
Ronata could feel that now, his water body contained more than triple the Mana from what it had before.
'Why does this mean?'
He also noticed that his width and depth had increased, not by a lesser dramatic amount, and for some reason, he felt a little closer to his surroundings, so he decided to check his status first.
___
•Name: Ronata.
•Type: Clean Puddle(4.3 m wide, 9 m depth.)
•Age: 0 years.
•Mass: 59
•Density: 0(Liquid Material)
•Magic: 175
[Normal Skill:]
1. Fast Witted°1.
[Magic Skill:]
1.Mana Eye°2.
2.Natural°2.
3. Water Magic°2.
[Trait:]
—Water-bless, Concentrated, Dissolve, Compact, Mana-Water, Adaptable.
___
'Ohh! My size, Mass, and Magic had increased so much more than before! Natural also advanced to Tier 2!'
[Magic Skill: Natural.]
[Mastery: Tier 2]
[Mother Nature had shown you her affection for you. Take care of her, get closer to her, and you'll get... Her love.]
'Love? Really? Whatever...'
Ronata doesn't think he understands what the new description means, but he would just ignore it and keep his joy of finding that his skill has increased in mastery.
'With this many Mana, I could maintain several Water Stink Bugs without paus—'
Ronata suddenly stopped his thought. That's because he found out that he could now imitate Female or Male Humans, also with their personalized versions, and he could also imitate a Monster called a Lycan.
He understood that Humans were definitely coming from the group of Humans he had killed, but he didn't remember ever eating a monster called a Lycan.
'Don't tell me... This guy was so unfortunate that it fell into my Puddle while I was unconscious?'
Considering that he was full of blood and corpses before the dissolving process ended, Ronata couldn't help but think that it might be true.
'Ah, so unfortunate for you, Lycan guy.'
Ronata then began checking the information on his new options of imitations.
To imitate a human, be it Female or Male, he needs to use 30 Mana for the initial forming process if he uses existing water, while he needs at least 40 Mana for it if he creates the water itself with Mana. And to maintain it, it needs a constant supply of 15 Mana per minute. And if he wants to imitate the personalized ones, like the Mage or the Fighter of the group, the cost would be doubled.
'So expensive! Now I began to think that even 175 Magic is still low... Ugh.'
For Lycan, it was slightly cheaper. He could imitate it with only 16 if he was using existing water, and 20 Mana if not, and for maintaining its existence, he would only need 8 Mana per minute. Different from Humans, there isn't any personalized version for it, so there was only one option for Lycan.
Of course, those prices were actually legit for them. After all, Ronata would gain some basic abilities of the beings he imitated. Using the Water Stink Bug as an example, through it, Ronata could experience a normal Bug's vision, though very limited if compared to a Human's vision.
So, if he imitates either the Lycan or the Humans, he would also have access to their basic abilities. Which is tempting for Ronata. Why? Of course, because it sounds fun! For a Puddle with no urging goals like him, it's only natural that he would indulge in his own interests more than usual.
With his current Magic stat, his natural Mana recovery rate and Mana Absorption rate also increased more than triple what they were before. However, at most, it would only reach 6 Mana per minute. He still had a long way to go if he wanted to maintain Water Human or Water Lycan without pause, like what he was able to do with Water Stink Bug now.
That's why, while the other two options were still too inefficient for him, Water Stink Bug is safe to use. Ronata immediately created 4 Water Stink Bugs and flew them towards four different directions. From now on, they would become his 'CCTV'.
When he was watching the newly formed Water Stink Bugs slowly flying towards their respective assigned spots, Ronata couldn't help but think, 'Could I control them directly at the same time?'
Since he could split a portion of his consciousness to control a Water Stink Bug before, he wanted to know whether there was a limit to it or not.
'Alright, let's try it out then.'
With that thought, Ronata began splitting his consciousness to control the four Water Stink Bugs.
At first, everything looks good and smooth.
In his mind, he suddenly had four more visions, and if he pressed further, he knew that he would then gain absolute control over the Water Stink Bugs and make them his separate bodies.
However, the moment he pressed himself into the four extra visions at the same time, a pang echoed through his mind. Then the pain followed afterward. A buzz, piercing pain that felt like it was pierced directly into his soul.
He immediately realized,
That if he continued, he would perish.
So, he stopped.
In the end, he only succeeded in controlling two Water Stink Bugs at the same time. Any more, and it would be too big a burden for his soul.
Controlling two Water Stink Bugs alone is already a difficult task for him. He felt like he suddenly found himself thinking with a big stone pressing over his body—or in this case, his soul.
The fact made Ronata sigh internally.
'I thought I could just control them directly rather than leave them autonomous. I guess there's always a limit for everything.'
Moving on from that, Ronata focused himself back on his silent absorption and growth session. Now that he had a small goal, namely, to become capable enough to maintain either Water Lycan or Water Human non-stop, and open the option of becoming a wandering Puddle if he ever tired of life in this plain.
Without the existence of Whitey and its mate, Ronata didn't have anything that could divert his attention from his continuous improvement session and his resting time, so the days of that day passed quickly for him.
Slowly, little by little, his Magic stat is increasing.
Naturally, his width and depth also began increasing.
Without Ronata even realizing it, the autumn had replaced the warm wind of Summer, bringing the general temperature of this land down.
On that day, his Water Stink Bug, which he had placed to watch the east side of the plain, noticed the shifts of Mana in the surrounding.
The Mana moved in a strange direction. Rather than randomly scattered around like usual, they began circling to a place as if there was something that was absorbing or gathering them, forming the shape of... Vortex.
'Wait a minute...'
Suddenly, a crack appeared. Not on the ground. But directly on the space itself.
The cracks continued to grow bigger before they stopped at a diameter of 3 meters.
Now, not only the Mana in the surrounding area that had formed a vortex, but even the gap in the space also visibly formed a vortex.
Yes, it was a portal connecting Earth and Hamurva.
A Rift.
A Gate.